Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Homeschool mothers journal- Raining Elephants

In my life this week…Last time it rained it poured, literally in my kitchen. So this week we have had roofing companies giving us estimates. I didn't realize how much a new roof would be.We had lots of running around to do this week. When I spoke to my husband at 1pm on Thursday I said to him "My day has been very busy but not so productive" he then replied "If you were busy then you must have been productive. Not being productive would be laying on the couch eating Bons Bons." I guess this is true, so I may not have done what I had planned but if I was busy I was doing something!

In our homeschool this week…I made a new lesson plan type list that has been working pretty well. Robin was selling magazines for girl scouts and my awesome mother in law bought us a bunch of educational magazine subscriptions.

My favorite thing this week was…Getting a new toothbrush holder from Target that can actually fits all our toothbrushes. Owl broke my favorite duck one earlier this week, it only held 4 toothbrushes though and there are 6 of us so it was a blessing in disguise. I wasn't so crazy about the look of it but the kids loved it and it fit all our toothbrushes so it won the functionality award from me and cuteness award from the kids.The more I look at it the more it grows on me. It has to nice big holes to fit lots of toothbrushes and is sturdy enough that the kids cannot tip it over.

What’s working/not working for us…I moved our morning circle time down to our finished basement where all our toys are and this has worked out well. After circle time is over I can get Owl and Duck interested in some toys while I work of school with Robin and Falcon. I used to do all our school work in our dining room but I don't keep a lot of toys on our main floor so Duck and Owl were getting into thing they shouldn't and I wont let them in the basement by them selves either because they get into things they shouldn't down there as well. We have 3 computers in the basement so they love to mess up our desks.

I’m reading… Falcon and I are both reading this. Very interesting book with lots of very big full color pictures of different stones and crystal. This compliments our earth studies unit we are working on right now quite well.

I’m cooking…Cut out pumpkin cookies. Every since I was Little my mother would make pumpkin cut out cookies and we would make faces on them with chocolate chips. I have continued this tradition with my children and every October we make these as well. If anyone has a tried ad true cutout cookie recipe that is gluten free I would LOVE you to share it. We have gone gluten free but for sake of tradition we made our cookies with Gluten this year until I have tried out and taste tested an alternative. I didn't want to turn a fun tradition into something not so fun if a new recipe was gross. She passed away from cancer 3 years ago and I didn't get the recipe from her before that, my dad and I searched but we never found the recipes. So I have been using one a friend gave me from her aunt. If you are interested I will be blogging on Thursday about the many pumpkin recipes I love including my pumpkin cookies with pumpkin frosting.

The elephant toothbrush holder is one thing the kids will never forget when they grow up. It's a big part of their childhood and the family. This will remind them they were children once. Oh! I would like to taste your cut out pumpkin cookies! Yum!

Baby Birds In My Nest

Falcon - age 17 Junior in CollegeHe attends a local University and is majoring in Communication. Now a Korean certified black belt in Taekwondo. He likes playing video games like all boys and has fun playing with paper money on the stock market.

Robin - age 11 grade (7)This was the first bird she was able to identify at 2.5 yrs old. She loves worms just as much as the robin. She has a fantastic memory and is very sweet and caring. She loves horses and takes English riding lessons. She is obsessed with Sea turtles and all things ocean right now.

Duck-age 9 grade (4)My most difficult bird, he keeps me on my toes. He has a very Jekyll/ Hyde personality.Stole his sisters stuffed duck as soon as he could crawl and adopted it his. Loves polar bears more than any other animal. He is super active and loves hard work outside. You can usually find him 30 feet up in a tree.

Owl- age 8 grade( 4)My silent observer. He loves to cuddle and be right next to Mama bird at all times he learns very quickly and is super cuddly. Loves nature and is always picking up animals and bugs. He is the family hugger!

Canary - Age 3 ( preschool)

Loves music, dancing and singing. If there is no music on she will make her own and dance to her own beat.